LEP: take advantage of the last month of the popular savings account at a rate of 4%

Only one month left to benefit from the 4% rate on your Popular Savings Account (LEP). From February 1, 2025, his remuneration will in fact decrease, which leaves one month to maximize your interest at the current rate.

Home straight. You only have one month left to invest your savings in your Popular Savings Account (LEP) at an interest rate of 4%. In fact, from February 1, 2025, his remuneration will be revised downwards. Taking into account the level of inflation, to which it is mechanically correlated, the LEP yield should be reduced from 4% to 3%. The latter must always be 0.5% higher than that of Livret A, which should land at 2.5% on February 1.

In any case, you only have one month left to benefit from a guaranteed return of 4%, net of taxes and social security contributions. A rate that is all the more interesting as inflation is slowing sharply at the end of 2024: +1.1% in November, according to the latest figures available from INSEE. By counting on inflation at +1% at the end of the year, you will therefore benefit from a “real” return, inflation deducted, of 3% in January on your LEP.

A real return, inflation deducted, of 3% in January 2025

It is good to remember that a year earlier, in January 2024, the LEP rate had reached an unprecedented level: 6%. But at the same period, the price increase still peaked at +3.1%, or a real return (interest rate – inflation) of 2.9%. In other words, despite a rate falling from 6% to 4%, the inflation-adjusted remuneration of your LEP could well be better in January 2025 than in January 2024!

To benefit from it, you will need to ensure that you place the maximum on your LEP before December 30, 2024. This is in fact a way of ensuring that your money will have “arrived” in your LEP on January 1, in order to generate interest. for the two fortnights of the month. Two scenarios present themselves: if you have not yet reached the ceiling of your LEP, it is in your best interest to pay into it your savings placed at a less attractive rate on other products (Livret A, current account) as well as any money received at Christmas.

On the other hand, if you are part of half of the holders already at the ceiling, you will no longer be able to make new payments. But don’t forget that the payment of interest generated can exceed the ceiling of 10,000 euros. This interest will be paid to you on the night of December 31 to January 1 by your bank: for example, it will amount to nearly 473 euros if you were at the ceiling since January 1. Added to the amount of your LEP, this interest will generate interest itself in January, at a rate of 4%.